The best local athlete you don't know

Monday

Jul 30, 2007 at 2:00 AM

Rye Brook — Meet Tucker Nathans, the best two-sport athlete from Orange County whom you probably have never heard of previously. Nathans lives in Warwick, but he has attended the Salisbury School in Connecticut for the past four years. He plays striker in soccer and shortstop in baseball, and earned Western New England prep school all-star honors in both sports.

Ken McMillan

Rye Brook — Meet Tucker Nathans, the best two-sport athlete from Orange County whom you probably have never heard of previously.

Nathans lives in Warwick, but he has attended the Salisbury School in Connecticut for the past four years. He plays striker in soccer and shortstop in baseball, and earned Western New England prep school all-star honors in both sports. Fairfield University thought well enough of Nathans to piece together two half-scholarships — soccer and baseball — to bring him to the school this fall.

"Fairfield is very fortunate to have a player like Tucker,'' said Stu Robinson, the Hudson Valley open men's soccer coach at the Empire State Games and 15-year coach at SUNY New Paltz. "He is incredibly coachable. He is only going to get better and grow as a player.''

Robinson added four recently graduated high school seniors to the Empire State Games team, and Nathans performed as well as any veteran. He scored a goal 15 minutes into his first ESG match and tallied in each of the team's three preliminary matches — Hudson Valley lost 2-0 to Adirondack in yesterday's gold-medal match.

"Tucker played awesome,'' said teammate Jamal Lis-Simmons, who coaches high school soccer at Highland. "He is a young kid. He played real good up top and he played in the midfield a bit. He definitely has a bright future.''

Liam Welsh was impressed by Nathans, and now he dreads having to face him when his Siena team meets Fairfield in the fall.

"He's phenomenal,'' Welsh said. "He's going to do really well. He should get a lot of minutes, if not start for them.''

Nathans followed the lead of his brother with his decision to go to prep school. He said the small-school environment and helpful nature of the faculty helped his academics.

"It was a good experience getting ready for college,'' he said.

Playing against older and more physically mature men at the Empire State Games proved to be a valuable learning experience, Nathans said. "Everything is a lot faster,'' he said. "I realize I have to get faster and stronger to keep up.''

Nathans showed he has a good, hard shot with both legs. Teammates liked the way he placed the ball, and Nathans prides himself on working hard and fighting for every ball.

"I think I am ready" for college, Nathans said. "It will be tough. I think I am prepared."